The Evolution of Lab: What Came First?

What, by definition, is capable of response to stimuli, growth and development, reproduction, and maintenance of homeostasis? That’s right, a lab! Wait, isn’t the answer ‘an organism’? Sure, but in many respects a lab is an organism. It responds to stimuli (getting excited about the arrival of a new piece of equipment), grows and develops (increasing the size of lab and the complexity of questions asked), reproduces (creating scientific offspring that go on to start their own research careers) and maintains homeostasis (not letting that one obnoxious labmate ruin the group for everyone).

But how would Darwin describe the evolution of this strange organism? Somehow, a lab must go from an idea in one person’s head to a fully-functioning group capable of elucidating mechanisms and answering questions. Somewhere along that path, a grad student and a PI emerged. Inspired by EJ’s question in the most recent Dear Dora column, the real question is which one of them first slithered out of the primordial cesspool?

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